Friday, October 28, 2011

Cold Call Friday with Jody Hedlund!!


Welcome Jody, to your “Cold Call” interview!! For those of you who don’t know what the “Cold Call” feature is, at the beginning of the month I have a poll, the winning author YOU then get to interview!! Jody Hedlund won this month’s vote and I am thrilled to present her here with YOUR questions. Without any further ado, heeeerrrre’s Jody!

Jody, I was wandering where you are from and what your family is like.

I spent most of my growing up years in the Midwest—in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana. And now I currently live in central Michigan. My dad was a Lutheran pastor and so we tended to move around quite a bit. I was a middle child, sandwiched between two brothers, which means I ended up being very athletic and playing a lot of sports (which unfortunately has not carried over to my adult years!).

I have been married to my college sweetheart for over twenty years. And God’s blessed us with five children who range in ages from 14 to 6. I have a set of twin daughters in the mix which has been fun and challenging at times too, especially when they were born premature and had to spend a month in the NICU. Thankfully, they survived and are turning into lovely young ladies.

When did you decide you were a writer? Was it something you’ve always known or discovered over time?

Like many writers, I’ve been writing since my childhood days. I always loved telling stories. When I was in junior high, I entered my first writing contest for a Biblical fiction story. And when I won, I realized God had indeed gifted me. I think that was when I became more serious about wanting to be a writer when I grew up.

However, as I began my college years, I quickly realized that creative writing wasn’t a career track that would help pay the bills. For a time, God moved me into social work. I went on to get my masters and was thankful for the experiences and opportunities I had during those years of helping underprivileged people.

I love Historical Fiction! What made you want to write this genre?

Historical fiction is my favorite genre to read. I love learning about past eras and those times when life was simpler and yet so much harder (without all of the modern conveniences!). I also like historical fiction because it allows me to escape from our present time-period with all of the problems and crimes. And although the past is fraught with problems too, I think the distance helps me put them into better perspective.

You’re so disciplined with your writing, so I’m wondering if this carries over into other aspects of your life? For example, do you have a cleaning schedule that results in a perpetually immaculate house, or does yours tend to get a bit cluttered like mine?

I admit, I’m a pretty organized person and I run a tight ship! But even though I’m the captain running my crew of five, I don’t do all the work by myself. My kids and my co-captain (my husband) pitch in too. We ALL work together. For example, on Saturday mornings we work together to clean half the house (and we alternate weeks). Everyone has a particular responsibility (like vacuuming or dusting), and we can usually get it done fairly quickly when we all do our part.

Even with trying to maintain a modicum of organization, I’ve also had to let go of a lot of trying to keep up with everything. I’m not able to declutter as much as I’d like to (particularly outgrown clothes and stuffed animals!) And I’m no longer able to maintain a weekly menu and instead just have to wing it for most meals (which typically means sticking to a few standard favorite meals that the kids like!).

Stephanie Grace Whitson is my favorite Christian author. Who is your favorite and what author inspires you?

I’m definitely a fan of Stephanie too! In fact, I’m slightly biased toward most of the Bethany House authors (since we share the same publisher!).

Jody, Carol Moncado and Casey
If you came to my house and browsed my bookshelves, you’d see a wide variety of books. I do a lot of reading with my children and so have shelves full of children and youth books. If you browsed my personal shelves, you’d find mostly historical fiction, lots of biographies, and plenty of books that aid me in my research.

I’m inspired by everything I read. I can usually find tidbits of interesting information in everything—but I’m especially fascinated by biographies, which is probably why I’ve enjoyed writing The Preacher’s Bride and The Doctor’s Lady which are both based on true people.

And for ALL your fans and eager readers, stomping on the internet’s doormat for the next book, where can they connect with you online? (and what is the release date for book 3???)

I love hearing from readers! The best places to connect with me are on Twitter, Facebook, or by shooting me an email. Make sure to say hi!

And my next book *drumroll* is called Unending Devotion, and it’s is releasing next fall of 2012.


Friday's Note
The winner of Ten Plagues by Mary Nealy is...
Ginger!!
Be haunting your inbox and congratulations!

11 comments:

  1. Excellent questions and answers!
    I can't wait to read her books!
    I love that we both have a liking for Stephanie Grace Whitson in common, LOL.

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  2. Thank you ALL for the very fun Cold Call questions! I had a lot of fun answering them! :-)

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  3. Just found your blog via a Tweet from Jody. Enjoyed your interview with her, and love the idea of your Friday "cold calls." I'll be back. (Oh, and I voted, too).

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  4. Wait a minute!!!!

    We have to wait a YEAR for the next one to roll out?!?!?!

    /cry/

    Guess it's a good thing my TBR stack is a mile high so maybe by the time it's time, I'll have time.

    Er... that's lots of times.

    And if you need influencers, you just let me know, darlin'. ;)

    I love your housework stuff. I can't get my crew organized enough to do half the house on a Sat morning [though my 'cocaptain' is teaching on Sat mornings]. I long to be better organized and more motivated in general. /sigh/ Especially about house work and working out...

    And looky there! That's ME!!! sandwiched between those two lovely ladies :D.

    Thanks Casey and Jody!

    Carol

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  5. Why do my eyes always gloss over when I'm reading about you Jody? It's so fun to get to know your favourite author this much. I used to be very athletic and not at all now too! And I wing it with dinner these days. I love your family cleaning idea. Mine start off tidying toys and then end up playing with them lol.

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  6. WALL, you would LOVE her books! I know I do. :)

    JODY, thanks for being such a great sport about joining on the fun!

    RICHARD, hello Doc! Thanks for coming by, I'm so glad you did. :) You will be welcome anytime you visit. :)

    CAROL, I know, doesn't that wait just makes me want to cry too. Good things there will be plenty to do between now and then--for sure! :)

    CATHERINE, she does do a lot, doesn't she?!?! Makes me tired to think about it, but I'm so thrilled for the sake of this eager reader (:-) that she does make it all come together!

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  7. Great interview! I enjoyed reading your answers, Jody. : )

    I'm just getting started with The Doctor's Lady, and from what I've heard, I'm in for a real treat! : )

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  8. I love the new title, Jody, and know readers are going to love the story. =)

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  9. I love how you get the family involved in Saturday chores. I need to be more organized on that front. Great interview ladies!

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  10. MICHELLE, you are! :)

    KELI, you little tease! You always remind me that we don't get that sneak peek. ;-)

    JOY, I love how her family rallies and supports her too. It's a great thing to see!

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  11. I won The Doctor's Lady when Jody was on Making Home Work. It was very highly recommended by a dear friend of mine, and I can't wait to get to it in my mile-high stack.

    Great Interview.

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Thank you so much for stopping by, I love to hear from those who traffic my blog! Have a wonderful day. :)

FTC Rules

According to new FTC rules I must let you, the reader know, that all views shared on this blog are strictly my own. Books to review are either provided for me by the author, publisher or ones I have purchased and I am under no obligation whatsoever to present anything, but my true opinion on any product. I receive no monetary compensation for anything written on this blog. Any giveaways on this blog are provided by the author/ publisher and I am not responsible for any views they express in their work or on this site. Giveaways are void were prohibited and chances of winnng are based on the number of applicants. A random winner is draw when a book is given away.

 
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